Biographical Overview & Key Facts

Subject:

Marion Harris

Role / Field:

American popular singer, pioneering white artist in jazz and blues.

Born:

1896-04-04

Died:

1944-04-23

Century / Era:

1896s Historical Era

Database Source:

2Day Chrono-Wiki & Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0

Origins & Early Life

Marion Harris (born Mary Ellen Harrison; March 25, 1897 – April 23, 1944) was an American popular singer who was most successful in the late 1910s and the 1920s. She was the first widely-known white singer to sing jazz and blues songs. She was born Mary Ellen Harrison on March 25, 1897 in Vanderburgh County, Indiana. Her parents, James P.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

Harrison (who was in his family's stove manufacturing business) and Gertrude Kappler Sturtevant (a railroad stenographer) eloped to marry in Boonville, Indiana in 1893. Her parents' marriage was not successful in the long term. Her father's family business fell on hard times, and he committed suicide by train in Boonville in 1917, having been reduced to relying on charity. Presumably they were divorced prior to 1914, when her mother remarried engineer John M. Blades, with whom she remained until her death in 1921.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Harris's paternal grandfather, Benjamin Franklin Harrison (no relation to the president of the United States, despite claims by her publicity machine) died in a hotel accident in 1907, the same fate that later claimed Harris herself. Harris sang in vaudeville and movie theaters in Chicago around 1914. The dancer Vernon...

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Frequently Asked Questions about Marion Harris